curry coconut chickpea soup

When my parents brought home a half-grown boxer puppy, I asked them why they got such an ugly dog. With her squashed face, beady eyes, and unproportional torso, she was a far cry from the beautiful German shepherd I’d grown up with. Then we took her out to the backyard to run around and within minutes, I was exclaiming that she was the cutest thing ever! She raced back and forth, eagerly stopping by our sides for head pats. She had no tail to speak of, so instead wagged her entire butt back and forth. What a great dog (except for the drool and the farts). She certainly taught me an important lesson about how it’s what’s inside that really counts.

This soup might look oddly curdled to you, with random chunks of red floating on top. But I know that the mottled look is from sweet rich coconut milk, and the soup is full of healthy tomatoes and red peppers. I know that quinoa adds a bit of crunch to the soup, and chickpeas offer something to chew on.

We gave the boxer puppy an ultra-feminine name, Belle, to counteract some of her less feminine traits. And maybe that’s why this soup has such a descriptive name. Without all of those flavorful ingredients right in the title, how would you have any idea what’s in that suspicious orange-tinted broth? Your first impression might not reflect how good it really is.

I love boxers! Bet ya didn’t know that. I love the soup too. I mean, I’m sure I would if I tried it. You know those spices are right up my alley, and I’m totally intrigued by the texture of the quinoa in there. I hope you didn’t eat this at work – there would be no way to get through your bowl without answering like 17 million questions from the cw’s, right?

If this would kill the soup. I won’t bother trying it – but do you think I could somehow make this without the coconut milk?? It sounds sooo good, but I can’t stand coconut…any suggestions for a replacement, or think I could just up the amount of broth?

Aly – Coconut milk is really creamy. You could probably mimic that with a combination of 1.25 cups broth and 0.5 cups heavy cream. But for what it’s worth, the coconut flavor here isn’t overpowering. I used to dislike coconut as well, and it was savory recipes that changed my mind.